J.M. Griffin - Vinnie Esposito 05 - Season for Murder Read Online Free Page A

difficult day for Mom.”
    “You did good,” he said.
    I almost couldn’t take those words in. It was an unusual state of affairs for me to receive praise from my father. Mostly, he was on my ass about minding my own business and settling down to raise a gaggle of kids. At the moment, life was good.
    Before the conversation could take a sudden turn, I rose from the table and slipped on my wool jacket. Time to leave.
    “Aren’t you staying for dinner, Lavinia?” my mother asked.
    As much as I wanted some of my father’s wonderful cooking, I knew better than to tempt the fates.
    “No, I’d better go home. This sweater is disgusting and I have papers to grade before the semester ends. We’ll break soon for the holiday vacation.” The university took nearly a month off at Christmas. The papers were already graded and ready to return to the students, but any excuse would do to get away at the moment.
    My father stood from the chair to get a container for the spaghetti sauce. He ladled the savory contents into the glass jar and plopped meatballs in, as well. Snapping the lid in place with its wire closure, he handed the sauce to me with a smile.
    “Make some pasta when you get home and have a good supper.” He sliced a chunk of Italian bread from the loaf he’d brought in. Placing it in a plastic bag, he added it to the sauce jar along with a bag of Mom’s cookies.
    I smiled and kissed everyone’s cheeks before I left. I may not have gotten a Christmas tree today, but I’d managed a free dinner and a possible murder. Both subjects were interesting, but only one really mattered to me. The fact that my mother was a suspect in someone’s death weighed me down.
    The ride home took longer than usual since the holiday season was in full swing and everyone shopped after work. Darkness had fallen and traffic on the highway was heavy. Troopers and cops abounded. They stopped speeders and assisted those who’d broken down.
    I finally parked in the driveway of the massive colonial in Scituate, the small hamlet I’d lived in for some time. My temporary tenant, Rafael, had left his vehicle on the far side of the driveway. The automatic exterior house lights flicked on as I opened the car door to get out. With the sauce and bread tucked under my arm, and the cookies stuffed in my large handbag, I headed into the house.
    It had been a long tiresome day, but it wasn’t over yet. As I entered the apartment, my cell phone jingled. I set the bundle of food on the kitchen counter and whipped the phone and cookies from my bag.
    “Lavinia speaking.”
    “Hey, this is Jack Manera. I wanted to let you know the old broad was poisoned. Some of the cake itself was poisoned, but other pieces weren’t. Whatever the woman ate was laced with the poisonous toxin. How she didn’t taste it is beyond me. She’d imbibed enough of it to kill her and two more like her.”
    “She wolfed the cake down, two sizable pieces of it in a flash, Jack,” I stated.
    “No wonder she didn’t taste it. I just wanted you to know this is now a murder inquiry, Vin.”
    “Thanks, Jack. I owe you. Let me know exactly what the toxin is when that information comes available,” I said and disconnected the call. For a moment or two, I leaned against the edge of the stool at the counter contemplating that my mother was about to become the chief suspect.
    Lifting the phone from its cradle, I called the house and got my father on the line.
    “Dad, I just got a call from Jack Manera, the medical examiner. The woman who died was poisoned. Call a lawyer for Mom right away. Don’t allow her to speak to the police about anything without the attorney present, understand?”
    A grunt of ascent met my request, followed by a heavy sigh.
    “You know this wasn’t your mother’s fault?”
    “I know, Dad. I know. Just do as I ask, okay?”
    “Does this mean you’ll investigate on your own again, Lavinia?” His voice sounded odd, and I couldn’t figure out